


For Your Eyes Only

by iwasnttrainedforthis



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eggsy is Lancelot, Ginger is Harry's handler, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Roxy and Tilde are minions, Supervillain!Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22353688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwasnttrainedforthis/pseuds/iwasnttrainedforthis
Summary: Criminal mastermind Merlin is always up to something nefarious.  Somehow it's always up to superspy Harry Hart to stop him.
Relationships: Harry Hart | Galahad/Merlin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	For Your Eyes Only

Harry finishes applying a knock-out punch to the last grunt standing in his way. The hallway is littered with the bodies of groaning men. He probably could have darted a few of them, but he felt like getting a little extra exercise today. He finally pulls his weapon as he approaches the door to the laboratory. Hopefully whichever lab technician is working today is already cowering behind a desk somewhere, that will save him some time. He opens the door to find a man wearing glasses, a lab coat, and an irritated expression aiming a fairly large rifle at him. Unfortunate.

The man motions slightly with the rifle. “Gun on the floor, slowly.”

Harry briefly debates whether he could get a shot off first, but the man seems quite comfortable with the rifle. He lowers his gun.

“Kick it over to me.” He complies.

The man motions again. “Now turn around, hands against the wall.”

“Is this really necessary?” Harry asks. The man starts patting him down. Harry is relieved of his second gun and the knife strapped to his shin.

“I don’t know, was it really necessary to incapacitate all of my men? Gregg is probably going to need surgery on that knee.”

Ah, this must be the elusive Merlin, then.

“Perhaps if you had reconsidered your plan to blow up the London Stock Exchange?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is a chemical research laboratory. You’ve trespassed on my property and assaulted my employees.”

“May I turn around now?”

“Slowly.”

Merlin watches closely as Harry turns around. Harry considers going straight for his wristwatch but he might as well see what sort of information he can get out of Merlin first.

“You have an awfully heavy security detail for a chemical research laboratory.”

Merlin narrows his eyes. “Corporate espionage is a very real concern.”

“And yet you haven’t called the police yet,” Harry points out.

“You don’t look like you work for Procter & Gamble. Tell me who you work for and what you’re doing here.” Merlin manages to make a threatening gesture with the gun while keeping it pointed right at Harry. Harry is impressed.

“As it happens, I do work for a third party that is very interested in your current research.”

“And they decided the best way to reach out to me would be to have you drop in and beat up a few of my men? I don’t have time for this.” Merlin raises the gun once more. Harry, who had been pretending to fiddle with his cufflink, immediately darts him.

Merlin’s eyes widen in rage as the dart hits him in the neck. He slowly crumples backwards.

Harry hurries over to the computer and starts downloading what he can. The explosion was planned for this afternoon and there’s plenty of incriminating evidence lying around. The police should be on their way to take Merlin into custody. Harry reclaims his own weapons and heads for the door. He pauses to pick up the rifle.

“What do you mean he’s escaped?”

Ginger looks like she’s trying to decide how small her words need to be for this explanation. “Well, Galahad, when a prisoner decides he doesn’t want to be in prison anymore…”

Harry waves her off. “Alright, fine. Do we know where he is now?”

“One of his aliases was flagged arriving in Germany but by the time the authorities got there he had disappeared. He’ll have had time to procure new documents by now. It looks like he’s also drained several offshore bank accounts that did not belong to him. The banks are anxious to get their hands on him as soon as possible.”

Harry sniffs. “Well, I won’t especially enjoy doing their dirty work, but it’s a matter of professional pride now. If I apprehend a villain, I expect him to stay apprehended.”

“You’re sure he won’t recognize you?”

“I hit him with the amnesia dart quickly enough that he won’t know me.”

“Just be careful.”

Harry attempts to stroll down the city street as quickly as he can while still appearing casual. He’d spotted Merlin sitting at a cafe table reading the paper. Merlin had looked up and they’d briefly made eye contact. Harry had ducked into the shop next door. When he popped back out a minute later Merlin’s table was empty and he’d spotted him heading around the corner a block away.

Harry turns the corner himself, all senses on alert. The street is deserted compared to the main thoroughfare. He hears a noise to his right and turns, only to feel a blow to the back of his skull.

He wakes up tied to a chair. He’s in a flat that has seen better days. Merlin is sitting at the kitchen table across from Harry. He’s got Harry’s watch off and is examining it. Has Harry been recognized after all? But how?

“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble just to steal my watch. I’m afraid it’s not that valuable.”

Merlin looks up at this. “Not that valuable? You won’t mind if I hold onto it then.” He pockets the watch, then produces a gun. “I’ve got a few questions for you. Starting with why you’re following me.”

Perhaps Merlin is merely being paranoid. Harry tries a charming smile. “I think you’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick. I was just taking a short cut.”

Merlin’s eyes go wide. “You think your dimples are going to get you out of this?” Oops, too much charm. “One minute I’m working in my lab and the next I’m waking up in police custody. Obviously I had some questions. I watched the footage from my surveillance cameras. You took out my entire staff. You weren’t with the police, you left before they got there. So, who do you work for?”

Merlin has put down the gun and picked up, alarmingly, a pair of pliers.

“I work for an agency that operates outside the normal scope of government. You can call me Galahad.”

“Sounds like I’d fit right in. Where is this agency of yours located?”

“There’s no central location. Just in case people like you come looking for us.”

The pliers come a little bit closer. “Sounds like you might be lying to me, Galahad. How about this...where can I find the person who gave you this watch that isn’t that valuable?”

Suddenly Harry hears movement from the hallway. The door to the neighboring flat opens and closes. Harry takes a breath to yell but before he can Merlin covers his mouth firmly with his hand. They’re very close now. For a minute Harry can only stare at Merlin. Finally Merlin blinks and reaches with his other hand for a kitchen towel which he quickly uses to gag Harry. His hand comes down to close around Harry’s throat. Harry tenses, ready to struggle. He hears muffled talking through the wall. Merlin glances over, then releases his hold on Harry to stand and grab his gun.

“This is your only warning, Galahad. You and your agency stay out of my business,” he says as he leaves. Harry sits quietly for a minute, letting his heart rate fall back to normal. Then he heaves a sigh and starts shuffling his chair over to a sharp looking bit of countertop. He might be here a while.

* * *

Harry strolls around the perimeter of the exhibit, nodding at a passing couple. He’s been undercover for the past several days as a museum administrator, but hasn’t seen anything more suspicious than children curious about how close they can get to something fragile before alarms start going off. He’s been following every possible lead for months, and he strongly suspects tonight is going to be the night.

A harried looking museum staffer comes up to him. “Mr. Hardison, can you come talk to these guys down in the east wing? They’re saying they’re here to pick up the artifacts from the ‘Jewels of the East’ exhibit. I told them it wasn’t scheduled to ship until next week, but they’re not listening to--”

Harry has already started running. “Call it in to security,” he calls back over his shoulder. He races down the hallway. He veers into view of the exhibit hall in question. Merlin is carefully removing something fragile from a case, yet no alarms are going off at all. Two more men wearing unconvincing deliveryman uniforms are packing a few last things onto hand trucks. When Merlin spots Harry, he calls out “Go!” and tosses the item over to one of the men. The men head for the exit. Merlin sprints off in the opposite direction.

Harry follows Merlin. A gunfight in a museum full of valuables would be a decidedly bad idea, so Harry will have to improvise. Merlin appears to be taking turns at random, glancing back every so often to make sure Harry is still following him. Harry produces a final burst of speed and tackles Merlin. They both fall to the ground. Merlin rewards his initiative with a punch to the face. Harry is well trained in all forms of hand to hand combat, but it feels like Merlin might have some training as well. Maybe Harry can distract him with some witty banter.

“Your men won’t get far, the police are standing by outside.” It’s not his best effort, but Harry’s a little busy trying to get Merlin pinned to the ground. Merlin doesn’t seem to want to be pinned. He tries to hit Harry with an elbow, which Harry just barely dodges.

“What makes you think I haven’t already gotten what I came for?” Merlin says as he abruptly stops struggling. Harry finds himself straddling Merlin’s thighs, leaning over him to pin his wrists to the ground. He’s staring up at Harry, chest heaving. Harry’s feeling a little out of breath himself, and overheated from all the sprinting.

“What was it you came for then? Because it certainly won’t be anything those men took.” Harry won’t let himself get distracted. He carefully reaches for his gun and trains it on Merlin, then rises.

“Well, if I told you, that would take all the fun out of it, wouldn’t it?” Merlin says as he sits up. He waggles his eyebrows, looking like a kid who can’t wait for his friend to notice a prank he’s pulled. Harry tries not to be charmed.

“What makes you think we’re having fun?” He is though, a little bit. “You never struck me as the type of criminal who went in for robbing museums.”

Merlin smirks. “I don’t make a habit of it. Antiquities are hard to transport and harder to sell. But museums still tend to have excellent security systems. Perfect if you want to test out a few devices to get past them without getting shot for your troubles.” He hits a button on his hideously ugly electronic watch and before Harry can respond all of the lights in the hallway go out. He leaps forward in a vain attempt to grab Merlin but feels nothing but air.

The silence he hears tells him that the entire building has probably lost power. So he can clearly hear Merlin, from the end of the hallway. “Thanks for the idea, by the way!” Then the bang of a door shutting.

Harry feels his way along the hallway back towards the direction he came from. Hopefully the police did manage to stop the other men. It would be nice if his dignity is the only thing they lose tonight.

* * *

Harry checks his watch for the fourth time. He’s hiding behind several stacked crates in a warehouse, listening to the megalomaniac he’s here to capture lecture his minions about the pending new world order. The minions look as bored as Harry. Harry’s waiting for the arms dealer who will be providing the weapons of mass destruction needed to usher in said new world order. Kill two birds with one stone and all that.

He straightens up as he glimpses movement out of the corner of his eye. Further down the same side of the cavernous warehouse, someone else is also using the crates to hide. The profile looks familiar. He stealthily moves a little closer.

“What is Merlin doing here?” he murmurs to Ginger over his earpiece. “I thought I was waiting for the Russians. Is Merlin getting involved in biological weapons now?”

He hears some typing. “Not as far as I’m aware.” Ginger sounds as alarmed as Harry. If there was anybody who could successfully weaponize smallpox without accidentally giving himself smallpox first, it would be Merlin.

Merlin doesn’t appear to be trying to make contact with Burroughs, at least. He’s still hidden behind his crate.

“I’m going to see what I can find out.” Harry starts carefully picking his way over.

“Be careful,” says Ginger. “Remember what happened last time!”

Merlin has spotted him. The look on his face says that if he wasn’t trying to avoid detection, Harry might be bleeding a lot more by now.

Harry tries another charming smile. Couldn’t hurt. “I didn’t realize you were friends with Burroughs,” he whispers.

“I’m not,” replies Merlin. “Please tell me I don’t sound like him.” Burroughs has just gotten to the part of his plan where he will rule for a thousand years. “He owes me a large sum of money I’m here to collect.”

“And you’re going to do that from back here?” Harry gestures at the crates surrounding them.

Merlin looks a little shifty. “I heard the Russians were going to be here with some interesting weapons I wanted to get a look at. So I thought I could combine errands.”

“I had the same thought. Except I’m here to stop the men, not steal from them.”

“We could team up? You get the men, I get the briefcases?”

Harry frowns at Merlin, who is not doing a great job of keeping a straight face. “I’m surprised you’re here on your own to begin with. You’re planning on stealing a great deal of valuable material from a number of dangerous men.”

Merlin frowns back at Harry. He touches his pocket. “I could say the same for you. Does your little watch have enough darts in it?”

Harry is offended. He opens his mouth to reply when he realizes the warehouse is now silent. He looks over to where Burroughs and his minions were standing.

“Oh, don’t let me interrupt you, gentlemen. You were explaining how you’re going to take my money and my weapons and then arrest me?” says Burroughs.

As one, Harry and Merlin pull out their guns and start firing.

Harry takes out the two minions on Burroughs’s right, while Merlin shoots the minions on his left. Harry aims at Burroughs only to see that Burroughs is already firing at Merlin. Without even thinking about it, he leaps in front of Merlin, feeling the impact of the bullet in his ribs. By the time he hits the floor, Merlin has emptied the rest of his clip in Burroughs’s head. Harry rolls to his back, winded.

Merlin drops to his knees next to Harry. He frantically starts pawing at Harry’s clothing. “Galahad! What the hell were you thinking? Where were you hit? Do you have a radio on you?”

Harry very badly wants to make some sort of ‘buy me a drink first’ comment, but he is a gentleman. He stills Merlin’s hands with his own. “I’m fine, Merlin. The suit is bulletproof.”

Merlin pauses for a moment, then rolls onto his back next to Harry and throws his arm over his eyes. “Bulletproof,” he repeats.

“I’m touched, I didn’t know you cared that much.” Harry plucks the bullet casing from his jacket and pockets it, pulling out a tiny tracker instead.

“I should have shot you myself.”

Harry pats Merlin on the shoulder, attaching the tracker at the same time. “I can give you the name of my tailor, if you want.” Harry pictures Merlin in nothing but his pants and vest in one of their mirrored fitting rooms. He momentarily loses his train of thought.

Before he can find it again, Harry hears someone speaking Russian, followed shortly by someone yelling in Russian. Several men have appeared in the doorway on the other side of the warehouse. Merlin jumps to his feet, pulls a small disc from his pocket, and tosses it towards the Russians. There’s a flash of light and a bang, and the room fills with smoke.

When the smoke clears, the Russians are lying on the floor next to the minions. No briefcases in sight.

“Galahad, what’s your status? I’m picking up a new signal from one of your trackers,” says Ginger in his ear.

“Burroughs and the Russians have been neutralized, but Merlin grabbed the cash and the weapons. Which way should I head?”

Ginger directs him out of the warehouse and through the nearby alleyways for another ten minutes or so until the tracker stops moving. Harry stumbles on a neat pile containing what looks like every stitch of clothing Merlin was wearing. Harry’s brain briefly goes offline again. When prompted, Harry relays the information to Ginger.

“Time to move up the development of the transdermal tracker,” muses Ginger.

* * *

Harry scowls as the two heavyweights finish tying him to the exposed pipe along the wall. He makes sure to get a good look at each face. One ruffles his hair as they step aside to let Merlin approach. He’s fiddling with a small black box in his hands. He leans down to point the box at Harry’s feet. Harry raises his eyebrows.

“Do I even want to know?”

“Americans go nuts for communication devices tucked into their shoes.” Merlin slowly scans the box up from his shoes. He pauses at Harry’s waist, but slowly keeps going. Harry’s watch has already been liberated from him by the heavies. The box makes a beep when it gets to Harry’s glasses.

“Uh-oh” says Ginger in his ear.

“Your glasses!” says Merlin. “Ingenious.” He sets the black box to the side and carefully pulls the glasses off Harry’s face and inspects them closely. “Is that a camera?” He takes the glasses over to the workbench set up in the corner and immediately has them underneath a magnifier, screwdriver in hand.

Harry waits for a few more minutes, but Merlin is now completely absorbed in the glasses. “I’m sorry, am I boring you? I’d be happy to leave you to it if you’d be so kind as to untie me”

Merlin looks up, finally. “I assume that was why you let yourself get captured in the first place, to test out your new technology. I’m just helping you test it.” Harry hears what sounds distressingly like the crunch of a tiny, expensive camera lens.

“I didn’t let myself get captured.”

“It’s Karl’s first week on the job, and he’s doing great--”

“Thanks, boss!”

“--but not that great.” Merlin folds the glasses up and tucks them in his pocket. “I’m sure your friends will be along for you eventually. Please let Ginger know that there’s a spot open in my lab whenever she’s ready to put her talents to better use.”

“I will not!” calls Harry after him, but it’s no use, he’s gone.

* * *

Harry affects a fashionably bored expression as he scans the ballroom.

“These are amazing!” Eggsy says through a mouthful of crab cake. “Have you tried these, Harry?” Harry closes his eyes and reminds himself half the reason they’re here is to get Eggsy used to this kind of high society event.

“We’ve discussed this, Gary.” Harry stresses the name. “It’s not the suit that makes you a gentleman, it’s how you behave wearing the suit. Is that how a gentleman would eat a crab cake?”

“Sorry, Harry. Part of the cover though, right? Wide-eyed young thing an’ all?” He shoots Harry a suitably wide-eyed look.

“Of course, dear. Let’s see how your polite conversation skills are coming along.” Harry places a hand on Eggsy’s back and turns them both to face a group of well-dressed socialites. He stops in his tracks when he sees Merlin stepping through the grand entryway of the ballroom. On his arm is a young woman Harry doesn’t recognize. Harry supposes you could call her pretty, if you were into that sort of thing. Merlin’s gaze pauses when it passes over Harry and Eggsy, but he continues to lead the woman further into the ballroom.

“What--” Eggsy starts, but then he sees where Harry is looking. He’s seen pictures of Merlin, of course. “What’s he doing here? Who’s the girl with him?”

“Well, he’s probably not here to help raise funds for endangered sea-birds. I don’t know the woman. Ginger?”

“I’m checking. Her name is Roxanne Morton. She completed her PhD in biophysical engineering two years ago. Huh, I actually read one of her papers when I was working on the new trackers. It was very good.”

Harry watches Merlin put his hand on Roxanne’s arm and lean down to murmur something in her ear. “What else,” he grits out through his teeth.

“She was a competitive long distance runner through university? That’s about all the useful information I can find.” Harry doesn’t think it’s all that useful. “If I had to guess they’re probably here for the information the ambassador keeps locked in his office. Blackmail, maybe?”

“Should we engage?” Eggsy sounds excited about the opportunity to do more than eat crab cakes tonight.

“I wouldn’t recommend it until we can figure out what they’re doing. Keep an eye on them if you can though,” Ginger says. Harry would be delighted. He puts his arm firmly around Eggsy’s waist and starts strolling in the same direction. Eggsy gives him a look but follows without protest.

After a few more rounds of the ballroom, Harry watches Merlin take Roxanne’s hand and lead her from the room down a darkened hallway. He starts moving towards that side of the room a little faster than could be considered a dignified stroll. “Time to engage now?”

Ginger snorts. “Slow down a bit, Galahad. It does look like that hallway leads towards the ambassador’s office. Lancelot, the ambassador is three meters away on your left, if you can bump into him and snag the key to the office, you’ll probably need that.”

Eggsy veers away, and Harry waits for him just outside the ballroom impatiently.

After Eggsy joins him again, Ginger directs them through the mansion towards the office. They stop just short of the actual hallway. Harry peers around the corner and sees Roxanne sitting on a bench near the office door.

“Lancelot, now is your time to shine. Let’s see if you can distract young Roxanne here long enough for me to get inside the office.”

Eggsy straightens his suit jacket with a smirk. “I got this.” Harry watches him head towards Roxanne, pretending to stumble a little bit like he’s had too many glasses of champagne. The look on Roxanne’s face says that Eggsy probably does not got this, but it should do for a distraction. Harry takes the key and slips into the office.

Merlin is seated at the ambassador’s desk, one hand on the keyboard, gun in the other hand pointed at Harry. Harry can see one of the computer monitors showing security footage of the hallway outside.

“Good evening, Galahad.” Harry tries not to be distracted by the combination of Merlin’s low voice and well-cut suit. He’s always been weak for a sharp dressed man.

“Merlin,” he responds. “Does the ambassador know you’re going through his computer?”

“I do some IT consulting now. He asked me to upgrade his RAM.” He glances up at Harry. “Don’t let me interrupt your date night. Your boy looks like he might get in trouble if you bring him back after curfew.”

Harry’s about to respond to this blatant bit of hypocrisy when he hears Roxanne on the audio feed from the camera overlooking the hallway. She’s telling Eggsy, “You don’t have to keep pretending to be a drunken idiot. I saw you with Galahad earlier.”

Eggsy tries to lean against the wall smoothly. “Who? The only person I was with earlier was my date for the evening, Harold DeVere.”

Roxanne snorts. “Well, I’ve seen footage of your date single-handedly demolishing a dozen of Merlin’s security in under 10 minutes. Merlin likes to watch the video to relax when he’s had a long day and he thinks nobody’s watching.”

Harry whips his head back to look at Merlin. Merlin stares determinedly at the computer screen and keeps typing.

Eggsy flops down on the bench beside Roxanne. “It’s really weird, right? Like, we’ve got plenty of bad guys we keep track of. No offense. But Merlin’s the only one he’s set up a case board for. And he calls it a “case board” but it’s basically just a collage of pictures of Merlin. And he’ll be over there staring at it, and I’m like, what are you doing, Galahad, and he’s all, shh, Lancelot, this is an important part of the process. I’m Lancelot by the way.” He offers Roxanne his hand to shake.

Harry doesn’t like the turn this conversation has taken. Merlin’s typing has slowed significantly. His face feels warm. How is he supposed to track a hardened criminal like Merlin without a case board? He’s a visual learner.

“I’m Roxy. Merlin told me to eliminate you with severe prejudice if you followed us, but I told him he doesn’t pay me enough for that.”

Merlin stands up abruptly. “Right, I’m done here. Feel free to hang around until the next security sweep comes through.” Keeping his gun pointed at Harry, he heads out the door, grabbing Roxy by the elbow as he passes. “You’re fired,” Harry hears Merlin tell Roxy as they walk back down the hall.

“I kept him occupied, didn’t I?” she replies.

“I like her, she’s nice,” says Eggsy. Harry glares at him without speaking.

“Lancelot at least managed to get one of my new dermal trackers on her, which is more than I can say for you,” chimes in Ginger. Harry decides that doesn’t deserve a response either. He heads back to the ballroom. Maybe they still have some crab cakes left.

* * *

Harry strains his arms, testing the bonds tying him to the chair. The zip ties are pulled tight with no give. He tries his feet next, listening intently for anyone else in the room. His head aches, probably from whatever had been in the dart that hit him. He keeps his eyes closed, hoping to appear unconscious to any witnesses.

“You can stop pretending to be asleep if you want,” he hears Roxy say.

He stills all his muscles. She could be bluffing.

“I mean, we’re monitoring your heart rate and brain activity, so…”

Harry opens his eyes. So much for that. He looks around. Nothing near him that he could reach, even if he tipped his chair over. They’ve taken his suit jacket, belt, and shoes, along with his watch and glasses. They left him his shirt and trousers. And his socks, so that’s something.

“You won’t get away with this, you know. They’ll be tracking me even as we speak.” He sees Roxy approaching with a bucket of water. “What--”

“Sorry about this, Galahad,” says Roxy before he can finish his question. She stops at a safe distance and tosses the water at him, drenching him completely.

“Was that really necessary?” he sputters, shaking out his hair, now plastered to his forehead.

Roxy rolls her eyes. “According to Merlin, yes.”

“I told you, Roxy, we need his skin damp to get the proper electrical conductivity for the measurements.” Merlin’s voice comes from somewhere behind Harry.

“OK, Merlin.” Roxy shakes her head and gives Harry a look. “I don’t remember that from my biochemistry classes, but what do I know.”

“Well, your professors weren’t doing the sort of cutting-edge research we are.” Merlin strolls into Harry’s field of vision, making notes on a clipboard as he looks Harry over from head to toe. “Good evening, Galahad. So glad you could join us.”

Harry shivers, from the cool air of the room hitting his damp skin, no doubt.

He isn’t sure how long he’s been out, but he’d made contact with HQ before entering the abandoned warehouse where they got the drop on him. Hopefully they sent Eggsy in as soon as his glasses stopped transmitting. The best thing to do now is to stall for time. Fortunately Merlin always enjoys a good monologue.

“And what will I be helping you work on today? Laser beams? Freeze rays?” Harry was investigating Merlin’s plan to disrupt the military’s satellite networks, but the less he reveals about what he knows the better.

“Cute. I’ve been working on some new lie detecting technology, and you’re going to help us test it out.”

Well, that’s alarming. Still, “Lie detecting?” he scoffs. “Everybody and their brother knows how to defeat a lie detector.”

Merlin’s eyes light up. “Ah, but that’s because everybody is looking at things from the wrong direction. Monitoring physiological responses is alway going to be too easy to manipulate. But if you look at activity in the brain itself, based on the latest fMRI studies out of Johns Hopkins…”

Roxy clears her throat. “I’m ready with the electrodes, Merlin.”

“Oh, thank you Roxy, go ahead, please.”

Harry really hates that Merlin hires such capable henchpeople, sometimes.

Harry clenches and unclenches his hands a few times as Roxy applies the electrodes. He’s trying to maintain the appearance of the suave international spy that he is but he’s starting to feel strangely restless. He rolls his neck from side to side and sees Merlin smirking at him.

“Feeling alright, Galahad?”

“Fine, my neck is feeling a little stiff, probably from being unconscious and tied to a chair for so long.” Strange, he hadn’t meant to say anything at all. He frowns.

“Luckily for you, one of the medications we’ve injected to get you talking also acts as a muscle relaxer. Should be kicking in right about now.”

“Shit. I was hoping to keep my mouth shut when you started asking questions.” His eyes widen.

“Oh really? Let me know how that goes for you.”

Merlin steps back to behind the computer screens set up on the desk. “Just going to ask you a few questions to get a baseline.”

“I would really prefer that you didn’t.”

Merlin chuckles. “I’m sure you would. What is your name?”

Harry clenches his jaw and bites down on his tongue. It doesn’t help. “Galahad.”

“And how old are you?”

“39.”

“Who is the current prime minister?”

“Judi Dench.”

“Very funny. If you could bring yourself to answer a few questions truthfully, that would help us out very much.”

Harry glares at him defiantly. “The hell I will.” He thrashes a bit just for show.

Merlin frowns at him and walks over. He places his hand on Harry’s, tightly strapped down to the chair. “Your hands feel cold. Are the bindings too tight for you?”

“No, they’re fine. Your hands feel warm.”

“Thank you, Galahad.” Dammit.

“Now we’ll try some open ended questions. Where did you get the address for that warehouse?”

“The phone book.”

Merlin narrows his eyes. “What organization do you work for?”

“I don’t work for any organization, I’m an independent contractor.”

“Tell me the name of your supervisor.”

“His name is Arthur.”

“How much do you know about our plans?”

“Enough to take you down. You should just give up now.”

Merlin’s gaze is piercing. “Why are you the agent they always send after me?”

Harry can feel sweat breaking out on his forehead. “I certainly don’t know.”

“If I wanted to bake you a cake for your birthday, what flavor would you want?”

“Devil’s food with chocolate icing, it’s my favorite.” Wait, what?

Merlin looks over to Roxy, who nods. He makes a note on his clipboard and walks back over to the row of monitors.

Harry closes his eyes but still can’t manage to keep his mouth closed. “This day is not going the way I’d hoped.”

“If it makes you feel any better, you’re doing wonderfully as a test subject. This data is very helpful. Now, some easy yes or no questions.”

Before he gets any further, Tilde comes running into the room, clutching a laptop.

“Merlin, they’ve tracked us! Eggsy-- I mean, Lancelot, is on his way. Maybe ten minutes out.”

Merlin’s lips thin. “How did they manage that?” He turns back to Harry. “Galahad, how did they manage that?”

“It’s probably Ginger’s new--” No, no, he has to come up with a lie, “--haircut?”

Merlin’s lip curls as his fingers fly over the keyboard. “Roxy, has all the data been downloaded on your end? Tilde, is the car ready?” At their nods, he hits a button on the keyboard. “Three minute self-destruct, let’s be on our way.” The women walk briskly towards the exit.

Merlin walks over to Harry, pulls a knife from his clipboard, and cuts Harry’s zip ties. “Can you walk?”

“Absolutely.” Harry moves to stand and promptly falls out of the chair.

Merlin sighs, detaches the electrodes, pulls Harry’s arm over his shoulder and helps him to his feet.

“I’m only doing this because we’re the ones who drugged you in the first place. Otherwise I’d leave you to self-destruct. You need to start being more careful. Tilde says she was able to dart you from two metres away.”

“I wasn’t expecting her. Our intel said you’d abandoned the warehouse weeks ago.”

“I’m enjoying this new, talkative Galahad. You’re not hooked up to our lie detector anymore. Go on, tell me something you’ve always wanted to.”

“I don't care how many drugs you give me I'll never tell you how pretty your eyes are.” This startles a laugh out of Merlin as he gently sets Harry down on the pavement outside.

“See you around, Galahad.” Merlin hops into the car waiting at the kerb and it drives off. Harry lays down on the pavement and hopes some shrapnel from the explosion hits him anyway.

* * *

Harry can hear muffled shouting outside his cell. He doesn’t tense up, or even look up. After the first 48 hours without sleep, he lost the ability to do more than hang there in the restraints that keep him on his feet. Judging by the progression of infection in the knife wound in his side, it’s probably been about 3 days since he was captured. Sometimes he wonders if Kingsman is still looking for him. Sometimes he wonders what his captors are keeping him alive for.

“Galahad!”

Harry smiles. It’s Merlin, one of his favorite fever-induced hallucinations. “What have they done to you, Harry?” Except Merlin usually doesn’t sound so worried. Harry’s been imagining him in various Kingsman suits, but he appears in front of Harry, as if by magic, all in black. Harry can almost feel him reaching up to unfasten the chains around his wrists. Then Harry’s falling forward, into Merlin’s arms. How strange.

“Merlin?” he asks. He lifts his good arm and touches Merlin’s face. It feels real. Merlin puts his hand on Harry’s forehead.

“You’re burning up.”

“You’re real?” Harry shakes his head, trying valiantly to straighten his thoughts out.

“I’m real. Let’s get you out of here,” Merlin says. He leans down to shift Harry into a firefighter carry. Harry tries not to cry out in pain but Merlin must have heard him anyway, because he puts Harry back down before he gets two steps. He carefully touches the tattered remains of Harry’s shirt over the knife wound and grimaces. “We’ve got supplies back on the helicopter.” He steps in front of Harry again, pulling Harry’s arms over his shoulder and leaning over to lift him piggyback style. Which shouldn’t be possible, Harry is too big for that. He thinks he might be hallucinating again. It’s hard to tell.

“Why are you rescuing me? You’re the bad guy.”

“That’s very hurtful, Harry. I’m not a bad guy, I’m just a scientist trying to make the world a better place. Sometimes the world’s not ready for my ideas, so I have to resort to extralegal activities for my funding.”

He doesn’t even sound out of breath. Harry’s starting to feel a little better already. “Is that what happened to that man? Science?” he asks as they pass one of his former captors, slumped against the wall with at least half a dozen more bullets in his torso than is probably necessary.

“And you’ve never killed a man? I can leave you here if you’re going to complain about it.”

“No, I’ll be quiet.” Harry closes his eyes.

“I didn’t mean that. I’d like it if you kept talking. Look, there’s the helicopter, just ahead.”

Harry looks. He recognizes Tilde also heading towards the helicopter, from the other side of the compound.

“Did you find anything useful?” asks Merlin as he carefully places Harry on the floor of the helicopter.

“A few things,” she says, holding up what looks like a small hard drive. “I’ll start the pre-flight checklist.”

Harry flinches, startled. Merlin has just jabbed him with a needle. He looks at Merlin, betrayed. “Sorry.” Merlin puts an empty vial in Harry’s hand and closes his fingers around it. “We needed to get antibiotics in you right away. Give this to the doctors when we drop you off at the hospital, they’ll need to know what you’ve already been given.” Merlin pulls Harry’s shirt back from the wound in his side and starts rinsing it.

Harry tries not to flinch again. “How did you find me?” He knows better than to ask ‘why’ again.

“I found you up for auction on some sites I’ve been following since I got word you were missing. Apparently the group that captured you couldn’t figure out who to ransom you to.” Merlin has finished bandaging the wound and offers Harry a few sips of water.

Harry has several follow up questions to that, but is also very tired. He reaches out for Merlin, aiming for his shoulder, grabbing his elbow instead. “Thank you for rescuing me. I’m sorry I called you a bad guy. I just think that you could be a good man.”

Merlin carefully frees his arm. “So could you.”

Harry hears Tilde call out from the front of the helicopter. Merlin finishes strapping Harry in, then leaves to join her.

* * *

Harry walks down the hallway, concerned. He’s in an actual lair set into a mountain. It’s the kind of place that would normally be crawling with heavily armed security forces, yet Harry hasn’t seen a single person since he arrived.

He doesn’t have much time to worry about it. They have less than 30 minutes until Valentine’s signal is set to go off. As he passes a row of ominous looking doors, one slides open. The hair on the back of his neck stands up. He backtracks and peers in. Inside, tied to a chair and gagged, is Merlin.

When Merlin sees Harry looking in, his eyes widen and he starts frantically shaking his head. Harry takes a step towards him and Merlin attempts to jump to his feet, overbalances, and falls over. Harry hurries to pick him up off the floor. As he does, the door slides shut behind him. All of the fight seems to go out of Merlin. Cautiously, Harry loosens the gag from his mouth.

“You absolute moron,” says Merlin. He sounds exhausted. Harry gets out his knife. Merlin flinches away when Harry tries to cut his bonds. “No, leave me tied up. It was a trap, Galahad. Why would you walk into a prison cell that opened by itself? All those years worried about you catching up with me, and I could have caught you with an opened door? I said don’t cut the ties!” He thrashes away from Harry.

“Calm down, Merlin. Why can’t I untie you?” Harry doesn’t argue with his other statements. It was pretty stupid of him to walk into the cell.

“Valentine left a transmitter for his signal in the cell,” Merlin nods towards a black box on the wall with a timer counting down. “If I’m tied up I can’t attack you when it goes off.”

Harry takes a cursory look around the cell, just in case someone has left an extra set of restraints lying around. When he doesn’t see any, he reaches over and cuts Merlin’s hands loose before he can protest again. “Now who’s being a moron.” He frees his feet as well. “There’s no need to be so dramatic. I’m not here by myself. Ginger is still here in the plane, she’s hacking into Valentine’s system as we speak.”

“It can't be accessed remotely. The signal is keyed to Valentine's biometrics.”

“How do you know so much about his plan? Are you working for him?” Maybe Harry should have left him tied up.

Merlin rubs the reddened skin on his wrists. “No, but he had time to chat while he was getting me settled in. Your Arthur is working with him, by the way. That's where he got the idea for your little trap.” Merlin indicates the cell they're sitting in.

“How did he manage to kidnap you in the first place? I've always found it quite difficult.”

Merlin scowls. “I'd been making some inquiries about his new sim cards and he invited me to tour his lab. While I was there he explained his real plan. When I declined his kind offer to be chipped like a new puppy, he had his goons standing by. Thank god Tilde managed to escape.”

Harry looks at him thoughtfully. “I'd have thought a misanthrope like you would be all for his plan. Humanity as a virus and all that?”

Merlin sneers. “Please. Any one of the carefully handpicked billionaires partying it up in his lair right now has a bigger carbon footprint than any thousand people lined up for a free sim card.”

“I thought that explosion at the Gulfstream plant looked like your work,” says Harry. They watch the timer slowly count down. Merlin takes the knife from Harry and stands on the chair to loosen the cover over the air vent. “Unless you’ve got a shrink-ray on you, neither one of us is going to fit in that vent.”

Merlin tosses the knife into the vent and holds out his hand to Harry. “Your gun, please.”

“Not if you’re going to throw it away. I might need it later.”

“Harry, give me your gun.”

“I’m not going to shoot you.”

“You will. Or I’ll take the gun from you and shoot you. Valentine showed me footage from the test he ran in America. His test subjects tore each other apart. Not a single person even hesitated.”

Harry hands over the gun. Merlin unloads it and tosses it down the vent. He steps down from the chair and starts pacing back and forth in what little room they have. Harry doesn’t think he’s ever seen Merlin this upset before. Not even when Harry put a bullet through his favorite supercomputer.

Harry sits down on the small cot against the wall. The next time Merlin passes, he snags him by the arm. “Sit down. You’re making me dizzy, and you’re not helping anything.” Merlin sits. The timer keeps counting down. Three minutes and counting. “It’s going to be fine. You’ve put all the weapons away. No sharp objects to be found.”

Merlin rubs his forehead. “It’s certainly not like anybody’s ever been beaten to death with bare fists before.”

Harry has a sudden and vivid flash of Merlin lying on the ground, his handsome face battered until it’s unrecognizable. Harry’s own hands, covered in blood. He swallows. He’s always tried to live his life so that if he died tomorrow, he’d have no regrets. It’s a necessity in his line of work. He thought he’d made it easy by cultivating no attachments. He abruptly realizes that is not even remotely true. He reaches down between them and squeezes Merlin’s hand, threading their fingers together.

“I'm still glad it's you here with me. I think I’ve loved you all this time.”

Merlin looks first at their hands, then at Harry, half a smile on his face. “I know.” Harry sighs internally. “I knew when you walked into this cell. When Valentine told me about his plan to trap you, I was relieved. I thought to myself, that will never work. But sure enough, it did. Turns out I’m in love with an idiot.” He touches Harry’s face, leans a little closer. Just then, the door to the cell bursts open.

“Galahad!” shouts Ginger. “We’re here to rescue you!” Behind her, Tilde waves. Ginger’s carrying a rainmaker, which looks like it’s taken a beating. Tilde has a small side arm. They’re both covered in some sort of multi-colored goo. “Oh, sorry. Are we interrupting?”

Harry glances at the timer, which had somehow stopped at 1:29 while they weren't paying attention. He stands and straightens his suit jacket. He peers into the hallway. A couple headless torsos are piled on top of each other at the end of the hall. “I assume you have neutralized the situation?”

Tilde nods. She looks at Merlin. “I was able to use our small orbital station to knock out enough of Valentine’s satellites.”  
Harry narrows his eyes at Merlin. He thought he had successfully prevented that launch. Merlin indicates via eyebrow that maybe it got launched after all and what about it?

“And Valentine?” Harry asks.

“I took care of him and Gazelle personally,” responds Ginger, giving the rainmaker a little swing. Harry is impressed, but not overly surprised. “We also heard from Lancelot and Roxy back at headquarters. There was an incident and to make a long story short, we need a new Arthur now.”

Harry nods. “Well, sounds like you have everything well in hand.” He herds Merlin back inside the cell and firmly closes the door in Ginger’s face. He steps back into Merlin’s personal space. “Now, I believe we were in the middle of something?”

“You’re damn right we were,” Merlin grins and manhandles Harry backwards towards the bed. Harry goes gladly.


End file.
